Why your body clock matters for migraine
We all have a natural preference for when we feel most awake and when we prefer to sleep. Some of us, known as “morning larks”, prefer to rise early and feel most productive in the morning, while “night owls” prefer a later start and later evening. This preference is called your chronotype. Research suggests that people living with migraine are . However, work, school or social commitments do not always fit well with these preferences. When people are forced to follow a sleep-wake schedule that differs from their natural rhythm, they can experience what is known as . Like jetlag, where your biological clock is misaligned with your new time zone, social jetlag is where your biological clock is misaligned from your social schedule. This misalignment between the body clock and daily life may increase the likelihood of a migraine attack. So, understanding your natural sleep pattern may help you identify changes that could help with your migraine.
Interestingly, there is growing evidence that migraine itself may be influenced by the body’s internal clock. While migraine attacks can occur at any time of the day or night, many people report that their attacks occur at a particular time of day, for example, in the early morning. There is also some evidence that melatonin rhythms may be altered in some people with migraine. Consequently, there has been some interest as to whether taking melatonin may be beneficial in helping to treat migraine. Some of the evidence to date indicates that melatonin may help to reduce monthly headache days when used as a preventative, however further research is required to determine its efficacy in larger samples, and in comparison, to existing . As with any treatment approach for migraine, every medication has potential benefits, side effects or risk of interacting with other medications, so it’s important to speak to your GP about what is right for you when considering new treatments.
The complex link between sleep and migraine is slowly being unravelled, although it is clear that maintaining healthy sleep habits can form a valuable part of a broader migraine management plan.
